Improving Hybrid Meetings

A couple of days ago, we had this very interesting meeting with my boss and representatives of one of our biggest clients. The clients wanted a demonstration of some industrial machines that we sell sometimes. The plan was, that we go to their company with the machine, do a demo and then they purchase the machine and everybody goes home happy.

We got to their office on time as agreed, some of the officials who were going to be present had already arrived except for the boss. When they called him, he said he could not make it to the office on time, he said that we were going to have to do a virtual meeting because he had to see what was going on. This is where it gets interesting; this man had started going to the gym a day before and as someone who has started going to the gym myself, I understand the pain that comes with being new to working out. Now, the boss had his son set up his study for the virtual meeting, we were technically connected though he had not come into the study room yet, when he came, the whole conference room with close to thirteen people became silent, he was limping literally, at some point he held his tummy to see how much of it he had lost already, the way he was waking was just so funny then he kept saying,

‘’Why should I use my money to get pain? This gym is not good for me and I’m not losing this belly fast enough.’’

You can imagine his face when he realized we were all looking at him. Cheery old man, he made us laugh all through the presentation. I later learned of course from him that what we had just held was called a hybrid meeting. This is a meeting between in-person attendees and online attendees. Here are some key notes to remember when setting a hybrid meeting;

1. Preparation.

Any successful event must be well prepared, the same applies to hybrid meetings. Preparing adequately for the meetings will ensure all the attendees leave with satisfaction and value for their time. Know which tools and equipment will work better for your team. Triangular and oval tables are the best for this kind of meeting because they help in keeping the focus on everyone in the room.

• Agenda.

By telling the attendees the agenda of the meeting well in advance, it gives them room to do their research and prepare for the same. This will cut down unnecessary discussions while ensuring everyone gets the most out of the meeting.

• Inclusivity.

By keeping everyone attending the meeting inclusive and active through the meeting, everyone will achieve something at the end of it. Ensure every person that is attending the meeting has gotten a chance to make their contributions to the agenda. It is also easy for the in-attendees to forget the online attendees while going on with the meeting, to avoid that, check-in with them from time to time by calling them by name and especially asking for their input on a certain topic. Keeping everyone inclusive will control the conversation because there are people that talk too much and they may shadow the others.

•  Tech Check and additional tools.

Ensure that you check your tech settings before the meeting starts. No one wants to come into a meeting and then realize their camera is not working or their microphone is off after speaking for several minutes. You can add ring lights or an extra microphone to ensure that clarity and sound are okay.

• Screen time.

The most effective hybrid meetings are when everyone in the meeting is on the screen. Simply said, put everyone on the screen. Let the moderator know where every person is seated as well as know their names.

But a successful hybrid meeting must be kept short and precise; Bloomberg Business Week, April 11 2022 Edition.